Barry Horowitz

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Barry Horowitz
Born (1959-03-24) March 24, 1959 (age 65)
St. Petersburg, Florida, U.S.[1]
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)Barry Hart[1]
Barry Horowitz[2]
Brett Hart[2][3]
Jack Hart[1][2]
The Red Knight[2]
Billed height6 ft 0 in (183 cm)[4]
Billed weight221 lb (100 kg)[4]
Trained byBoris Malenko[1]
Debut1979
RetiredJanuary 21, 2023

Barry Horowitz (born March 24, 1959) is an American professional wrestler, best known for his time in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF).

Early life

Horowitz attended Florida State University, where he studied sports nutrition and wrestled.[5][6]

Professional wrestling career

Early career (1979–1987)

Horowitz trained as a

World Wide Wrestling Federation, Jim Crockett, Sr.'s NWA Mid-Atlantic promotion, and promotions in Canada and Puerto Rico. His first television appearance in the WWWF/WWF was in October 1981 as an enhancement talent named Barry Hart, losing to King Kong Angelo Mosca
. He worked with WWF until 1983.

Horowitz eventually joined

World Wrestling Federation (1987–1990)

Horowitz joined the

Primetime Wrestling
on February 19, 1988.

In 1988, he registered fifteen singles victories, defeating Allen,

Iron Mike Sharpe, and Poffo.[9] Horowitz finished his initial WWF run registering fourteen victories in 1989, including an improbable pin over a young Ken Shamrock in Greensboro, North Carolina, on July 29.[10] Barry's final match was a loss to Mark Young in Waco, Texas on April 22, 1990,[11]
after which he departed for World Championship Wrestling.

World Championship Wrestling (1990)

Horowitz made his debut in WCW a little over a month later at a TV taping on May 23, 1990, at the Georgia Mountains Center in a match with Brian Pillman.[12] He would wrestle in over fifty matches that year, registering one victory (a pinfall of Tommy Angel at a TV taping in October). His only pay-per-view appearance was in a dark match at Halloween Havoc, where he was defeated by Tim Horner.[12] His last appearance came on December 7 at a house show in St. Joseph, Missouri, where he wrestled twice, losing to The Juicer and Sam Houston in subsequent matches.

Global Wrestling Federation (1991–1993)

Horowitz then traveled to Texas, where he worked for the newly formed

Dallas, Texas.[13]
He remained in the GWF for two years until it declared bankruptcy.

Return to WWF (1991-1997)

Jobber to the stars (1991–1995)

Along the way, Horowitz also returned to the WWF in late 1991, where he was once again used to help put talent

over. His first match back came on October 21 at a WWF Superstars taping in Fort Wayne, Indiana, when he teamed with Brian Costello to face The Bushwhackers.[14] For the remainder of 1991, Horowitz only appeared on televised events and came out on the losing end in matches against Legion of Doom, Greg Valentine, and then Intercontinental champion Bret Hart. This continued through the first half of 1992, and Horowitz would face and lose to Kerry Von Erich, Owen Hart, Tito Santana
, and others at WWF Superstars and WWF Challenge tapings.

On June 5, 1992, in Chicago, Illinois, Horowitz rejoined the house show circuit, substituting for the departed

Skinner in a house show program against High Energy (Koko B. Ware and Owen Hart). Horowitz would remain winless in his WWF return until September 21, 1992, when he finally secured his first pinfall victory by defeating Brad Holman in a dark match at a WWF Superstars taping in Winnipeg, Manitoba.[15]
It would be his only victory of the year.

In Phoenix, Arizona he teamed with

mask at the 1993 Survivor Series as the Red Knight, teaming with Shawn Michaels (who was substituting for Jerry Lawler) and the Black and Blue Knights to lose to Bret, Owen, Keith, and Bruce Hart.[1] Following the pay-per-view, Horowitz began teaming with his old partner, Lombardi, as The Red and Black Knights on the house show circuit, losing to Men on a Mission
multiple times in December.

Despite his status as a jobber, Horowitz would occasionally wrestle in matches of greater prominence. He was instrumental in starting the feud between reigning tag team champions, The Quebecers, and the “1-2-3” Kid. The Quebecers were set to defend their titles against Horowitz and Riggins, but Horowitz brought in the Kid as a last-minute replacement partner. Though the Quebecers prevailed in the match, the Kid would continue to challenge for the tag team titles, albeit with changing partners and without Horowitz. Horowitz would return to teaming with Riggins during 1994, facing The Smoking Gunns and Men on a Mission on multiple occasions. Despite numerous defeats, Horowitz did gain two victories in 1994 by defeating Ben Jordan and Mark Thomas. He also faced Thurman "Sparky" Plugg in the latter's first WWF match.[17]

Horowitz entered 1995 still mired in the preliminary ranks and lost to Chris Candido in the soon to be BodyDonna Skip's first match.[18] However, Bodydonna Skip was the catalyst for a career turnaround that summer. Horowitz's schedule began to pick up and he wrestled Henry Godwinn, Mantaur, Shawn Michaels, and others. On the March 13, 1995, episode of Monday Night Raw, Horowitz received a shot at Jeff Jarrett's Intercontinental Championship. It was a competitive match, but Horowitz lost via submission to Jarrett's figure-four leg lock. On May 25, 1995, in Manitoba he began a house show series against Skip of the Body Donnas, losing to him all seven times.

Elevation to main roster and teaming with Hakushi (1995–1997)

Finally, on the July 9, 1995, airing of

Bob Holly and Marty Jannetty in a loss to Skip, Rad Radford, Tom Prichard, and The 1-2-3 Kid. A month later at In Your House 5 Horowitz teamed with Hakushi and The Smoking Gunns to defeat The Body Donnas, Yokozuna, and Isaac Yankem in a dark match at the pay-per-view. He closed out the year teaming frequently with Fatu and Hakushi and coming out victorious over Skip, Kama
, and Yankem on the house show circuit.

Horowitz appeared in the

Freddie Joe Floyd against The Headbangers on Monday Night Raw.[20]
His last WWF match was in Kuwait City, Kuwait on April 12, 1997, against Floyd.

Return to WCW (1997–2000)

Horowitz's contract was not renewed by the WWF in 1997, and he joined

Barry Darsow at a television taping in Mankato, Minnesota. On November 22, 1998, he made his first pay-per-view appearance, wrestling in the three ring, 60 man battle royal at World War 3
.

In early 2000, he began his first feud in WCW after losing to Allan Funk on the March 11 edition of Saturday Night. Funk defeated Horowitz using a handful of tights. A week later on Saturday Night during a match between Fidel Sierra and Funk, Horowitz came out to the ring and distracted Funk, allowing Sierra to win. Horowitz's final WCW appearance came at the last ever taping of Saturday Night on March 29, 2000, in Beaumont, Texas. He faced Jim Duggan and was defeated after Funk interfered.[23] He then left WCW.

Later Career (2000–2003, 2013)

After WCW, he returned to the independent circuit working mainly in Florida until he retired in 2003.

Horowitz made a one-night appearance on June 30, 2013 where he won Malenko Memorial Cup Battle Royal.

Return to professional wrestling (2022–2023)

After not wrestling since 2013, Horowitz returned to the ring on March 19, 2022, to face

Jimmy Wang Yang, nZo, and PCO in a losing effort against Atsushi Onita, Robert Gibson, Ricky Morton, Juice Robinson, and Colt Cabana.[25]

On May 11, 2022, Horowitz appeared in a vignette in All Elite Wrestling in a parody of Dark Side of the Ring in the build-up to the match between MJF and Wardlow. During the vignette, Horowitz (billed as a "Legendary Jewish Wrestler") defended fellow Jewish wrestler MJF while poking fun at himself by saying he's a top star and calling Shawn Dean (who had two disqualification victories over MJF) "a jobber".[26]

On the episode of

Impact Wrestling that aired on February 16, 2023 (taped January 21), Horowitz wrestled Johnny Swinger as part of Swinger's quest to get 50 victories. After a distraction by The KISS Demon, Horowitz rolled Swinger up for a pinfall victory. Later in the show, Horowitz teased a shot at the World title if he got 50 victories like the one promised to Swinger but when Impact Director of Authority Santino Marella said his next opponent would be against Rhino, Horowitz decided he wanted to take his one victory and leave on top.[27]

Popular culture

Horowitz is the subject of a song by rapper Action Bronson,[28] though Horowitz was angered by this and indicated that Bronson did not get permission to use his name or likeness.[29]

Championships and accomplishments

See also

  • List of Jewish professional wrestlers

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g "Barry Horowitz's profile". Online World of Wrestling. Archived from the original on 22 June 2009. Retrieved August 3, 2009.
  2. ^ a b c d "Barry Horowitz". Retrieved August 3, 2009.
  3. ^ "JCP – 1983 Results". 16 January 2023. Retrieved January 14, 2024.
  4. ^ .
  5. . Retrieved July 25, 2011.
  6. . Retrieved July 25, 2011.
  7. ^ a b "Florida Heavyweight Title". Wrestling-Titles.com. Retrieved December 23, 2011.
  8. ^ a b "The History of WWE : 1987". Thehistoryofwwe.com. Retrieved 2016-05-21.
  9. ^ "The History of WWE : 1988". Thehistoryofwwe.com. Retrieved 2016-05-21.
  10. ^ "The History of WWE : 1989". Thehistoryofwwe.com. Retrieved 2016-05-21.
  11. ^ "The History of WWE : 1990". Thehistoryofwwe.com. Retrieved 2016-05-21.
  12. ^ a b "WCW1990". Thehistoryofwwe.com. Retrieved 2016-05-20.
  13. ^ "GWF Light Heavyweight Title". Wrestling-Titles.com. Retrieved December 23, 2011.
  14. ^ "The History of WWE : 1991". Thehistoryofwwe.com. Retrieved 2016-05-21.
  15. ^ "The History of WWE : 1992". Thehistoryofwwe.com. Retrieved 2016-05-21.
  16. ^ a b "The History of WWE : 1993". Thehistoryofwwe.com. Retrieved 2016-05-21.
  17. ^ "The History of WWE : 1994". Thehistoryofwwe.com. Retrieved 2016-05-21.
  18. ^ "The History of WWE : 1995". Thehistoryofwwe.com. Retrieved 2016-05-21.
  19. ^ "The History of WWE : 1996". Thehistoryofwwe.com. Retrieved 2016-05-21.
  20. ^ "The History of WWE : 1997". Thehistoryofwwe.com. Retrieved 2016-05-21.
  21. ^ "WCW 1997". Thehistoryofwwe.com. Retrieved 2016-05-20.
  22. ^ "WCW 1998". Thehistoryofwwe.com. Retrieved 2016-05-20.
  23. ^ "WCW 2000-01". Thehistoryofwwe.com. Retrieved 2016-05-20.
  24. ^ "WrestlePro Rock And Roll Forever Results (3/19): Barry Horowitz Takes On Joey Janela". fightful.com. Retrieved 2022-06-06.
  25. ^ "COMPLETE 2022 WRESTLECON MARK HITCHCOCK MEMORIAL SUPERSHOW COVERAGE". pwinsider.com. Retrieved 2022-06-06.
  26. ^ "Barry Horowitz Appeared on Last Night's AEW Dynamite". 12 May 2022.
  27. ^ "Barry Horowitz wins match in Impact with help from WCW's Kiss Demon". 16 February 2023.
  28. YouTube
  29. ^ Herzog, Kenny (7 January 2014). "Don't Call Me a Jobber: Barry Horowitz Has Beef With Action Bronson". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 17 January 2015.
  30. ^ "BCW Can-Am Tag Team Championship » Title Reigns". Cage Match. Retrieved 30 April 2023.
  31. ^ "CWA Mittelgewicht Championship » Title Reigns". Cage Match. Retrieved 30 April 2023.
  32. ^ "Reference at www.cagematch.net".
  33. .
  34. ^ "Southern Tag Team Title". Wrestling-Titles. Retrieved January 19, 2020.
  35. ^ "Malenko Memorial Cup". Cage Match. Retrieved 30 April 2023.
  36. ^ "FOW Hardcore Championship". Cage Match. Retrieved 30 April 2023.
  37. .
  38. ^ "Independent Wrestling Results – September 2002". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved July 6, 2008.
  39. ^ "Pro Wrestling Illustrated Award Winners Inspirational Wrestler of the Year". Wrestling Information Archive. Archived from the original on 16 June 2008. Retrieved July 27, 2008.
  40. ^ "Pro Wrestling Illustrated (PWI) 500 for 1992". The Internet Wrestling Database. Retrieved August 25, 2015.

External links

Archived 2009-06-22 at the Wayback Machine